The role of teachers' core instructional practices in predicting Amharic reading achievement among early grade students

Abstract

This study examined the influence of teachers’ core instructional practices—planning, classroom management, and assessment—on early grade students’ reading achievement. Using correlational design, the study involved 160 Grade 2 and Grade 3 students and 8 Amharic language teachers from Ewket Fana, Dilchibo, Shimbit, and Teyima elementary schools in Bahir Dar during the 2025 school year. Data were collected through reading tests, classroom observations, and document analysis, The data were analyzed using bivariate linear regression. The results showed a significant positive association between teachers’ instructional practices and students’ performance in letter-name identification, reading of familiar and nonsense words, oral reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Planning practice (β = .721–.946, R² = .519–.896, p < .05), classroom management (β = .718–.794, R² = .515–.630, p < .05), and assessment practice (β = .714–.828, R² = .510–.685, p < .05) emerged as significant predictors of reading achievement. However, teachers’ planning and assessment practices were not significantly associated with students’ phonemic awareness (β = .304–.608, R² = .093–.370, p > .05). Overall, the findings indicate that, except for phonemic awareness, teachers’ core instructional practices substantially predict early grade reading achievement in the Amharic context.